Holiday doctor Berlin

Holiday in Berlin — and no practice opens

Berlin has ten statutory public holidays per year, plus the customary bridge days. On these days the regular outpatient pathway is interrupted: GPs, specialists, paediatricians and dental practices are all closed. The statutory on-call line 116117 is the official point of contact but carries the year's highest call volume on holidays. Anyone needing medical help with a fever, acute pain, gastroenteritis or an injury on Christmas morning or on Tag der Deutschen Einheit either ends up in a packed walk-in clinic or in an emergency room where non-life-threatening cases wait three to five hours.

This is exactly our use case. Holiday operations are not reduced. One board-certified physician covers the west shift, a second covers the east. The team rotates so no single physician carries every holiday — but every holiday is covered. The case is the same as on a Wednesday: rapid tests, ECG, pulse oximeter, otoscope, IV equipment, first-line and emergency medications. Prescription and sick note are issued on site; the Berlin pharmacy on-duty list is in the case.

Typical holiday visits

Frequent reasons: febrile respiratory infections (especially during the influenza wave between Christmas and New Year), gastrointestinal complaints after holiday meals, biliary colic after heavy food, croup in toddlers on Christmas Eve, allergic reactions to New Year's catering, slip-and-fall injuries on icy paths, hypertensive crises triggered by stress and alcohol, migraine attacks. We also see hotel guests — Scandinavian, US, UK, Swiss, Dutch families staying over Easter or Christmas in Mitte or Charlottenburg — who fall ill far from home.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year — special cases

Christmas Eve through New Year's Day is empirically the busiest stretch of the year for us. We are continuously staffed — Christmas Eve through midnight, Christmas Day from 6 AM, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve through midnight, New Year's Day from 6 AM. Caring for an elderly relative over the holidays, dealing with a small paediatric emergency, staying at an inner-city hotel — you can reach us throughout. Sick notes issued on Christmas Eve are equally valid.

How a holiday house call works

You call. We take down the data and give a time window. On peak days — Christmas Eve, Easter Sunday, Whit Sunday — the window can be slightly wider because the entire Berlin system is under load. We tell you honestly what is realistic. The physician calls before arrival, examines thoroughly, adds diagnostics as needed and treats on site.

You receive a prescription, a sick note and the GOÄ invoice with the holiday surcharge. We tell you which Berlin pharmacy is on duty — the on-call rota is updated daily. If a hospital admission is necessary, we coordinate the referral.

GOÄ holiday surcharge — what it means for the invoice

The GOÄ defines a holiday surcharge above the regular weekend surcharge. For privately insured patients and Beihilfe beneficiaries this has no out-of-pocket effect — the insurer reimburses GOÄ-compliant services fully, surcharges included. Self-payers should expect a holiday invoice between EUR 260 and 420, depending on diagnostics and treatment.

The invoice is issued through our Privatärztliche Verrechnungsstelle, itemised by GOÄ code, and can be submitted to your PKV or international travel insurer. For life-threatening emergencies on holidays: 112. For low-threshold advice outside our hours: 116117.